Chuck Darwin<p>A man who lit himself on fire Friday across the street from the Manhattan courthouse where former president Donald Trump is facing a criminal hush money trial is in critical condition, New York City police said. <a href="https://c.im/tags/Manhattan" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Manhattan</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/DonaldTrump" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>DonaldTrump</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/HushMoneyTrial" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>HushMoneyTrial</span></a></p><p>The man walked into Collect Pond Park at 1:30 p.m., removed several pamphlets from his backpack and tossed them on the ground, Chief Jeffrey Maddrey told reporters. <a href="https://c.im/tags/CollectPondPark" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CollectPondPark</span></a></p><p>He then pulled out a canister of liquid accelerant, doused himself with it and lit himself on fire, the chief said. <a href="https://c.im/tags/LiquidAccelerant" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>LiquidAccelerant</span></a></p><p>The man took a few steps before falling onto a police barrier and then to the ground. <a href="https://c.im/tags/PoliceBarrier" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>PoliceBarrier</span></a></p><p>Civilians and officers ran into the park, and used coats and fire extinguishers to try to put out the blaze before firefighters arrived and fully extinguished it. <a href="https://c.im/tags/Firefighters" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Firefighters</span></a></p><p>Paramedics transported the man — identified by police as Maxwell Azzarello of St. Augustine, Fla. — to a hospital, where he was intubated, according to New York City fire officials. <a href="https://c.im/tags/MaxwellAzzarello" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>MaxwellAzzarello</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/StAugustine" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>StAugustine</span></a></p><p>Four police officers were treated for minor injuries. <a href="https://c.im/tags/PoliceOfficers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>PoliceOfficers</span></a></p><p>The pamphlets Azzarello, 37, threw on the ground promoted various conspiracy theories, including ones about Ponzi schemes and local educational institutions being fronts for the mob, Joe Kenny, the police department’s chief of detectives, told reporters. <a href="https://c.im/tags/ConspiracyTheories" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ConspiracyTheories</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/PonziSchemes" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>PonziSchemes</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/EducationalInstitutions" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>EducationalInstitutions</span></a></p><p>Source: <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/04/19/man-sets-himself-fire-near-trump-trial/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">washingtonpost.com/nation/2024</span><span class="invisible">/04/19/man-sets-himself-fire-near-trump-trial/</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/WashingtonPost" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>WashingtonPost</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/ManOnFire" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ManOnFire</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/TrumpTrial" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>TrumpTrial</span></a></p>